Chapter 972 - 40: Capture

The two sand ships were completely unaware that they had already sailed into the ambush set by Sun Hang and the others. The hunters on the sand ships adjusted the angle of the sails and then threw two large nets out from the sides of the sand ships.

Nuer told Sun Hang that these nets were made from a special membrane found under the skin of the Accursed. It can filter out the sand, leaving only the secretions of the Sinking Sand Giant Worms in the nets. After collecting enough secretions, the hunters would retrieve these nets from the Desert Sea, knead them into a bundle, and then squeeze all the secretions absorbed on the nets into pouches used for storing the "harvest".

"Are you ready?" Sun Hang glanced at Candle Dragon, who was lying nearby. Both were equipped with sniper rifles close to two meters in length, and the scopes beneath the shading nets reflected a dangerous glimmer.

"Ready to snipe at any time," Candle Dragon said in a deep voice.

"Three, two, one."

The gunshot, muted by the silencer, still echoed across the entire Desert Sea. Along with the yellow sand being swept up by airflow near the muzzle, two large-caliber sniper shots instantly broke the masts of the two sand ships, and the huge sails suddenly fell down, hitting the surface of the Desert Sea.

Almost immediately, there were two more gunshots so faint they could almost be ignored. The two bewildered hunters were paralyzed and then fell simultaneously into the sand ships.

"Good shot," Sun Hang gave Candle Dragon a thumbs-up, tossing the light sniper rifle in his hand to Cheng Ming, who was standing nearby. He then lifted the large-caliber sniper rifle mounted on the ground and quickly charged towards the two sand ships that were rapidly sliding across the Desert Sea due to inertia.

The two hunters were not dead; they weren't even seriously injured. Sun Hang and Candle Dragon first used large-caliber anti-material sniper rifles to render the sand ships powerless and then immediately switched to light sniper rifles loaded with subsonic paralysis rounds to snipe at the two hunters.

The bullet heads of these subsonic paralysis rounds are filled with a paralysis toxin optimized by Dubhe Tower's biological medical department specifically for the physique of the Desert Sea survivors. It doesn't even need to enter the body; just a trace on the exposed skin can put the entire person in a paralyzed state, with limbs twitching and unable to move.

The two hunters were quickly captured back. Once the paralysis toxin dissipated from their bodies, they looked around fearfully at Sun Hang and the others surrounding them and then fixed their gaze on Nuer.

"It's you! You're the traitor who brought the heretic back to the settlement!" One hunter immediately cursed in the language of the Desert Sea survivors, "After you die, your soul will be denied entry by the underworld, drifting in the crevices of the world, never to find peace! That's the fate of those who side with heretics!"

Nuer's body visibly trembled, his lips moved slightly, but in the end, he said nothing.

"This curse... doesn't seem very powerful," Sun Hang said, puzzled, "It doesn't even compare to the vile comments on Xiazhou's internet forums."

"The priest told us that everyone, whether blessed or accursed, will have their soul return to the underworld after death and enjoy eternal peace. But heretic souls will end up stuck in the crevices between the world of the living and the world of the dead, becoming wandering souls enduring various pains. For us, this is the most terrifying curse." Nuer explained quietly to Sun Hang.

"I see..." Sun Hang nodded thoughtfully and then smiled at the hunter, speaking in the somewhat clumsy language of the survivors, "Then I won't kill you. I'll take you back to the heretic's land, treat you well with good food and drink, and... when you die, do you think your soul will return to the embrace of the underworld or become a wandering ghost between the living and the dead?"

The hunter who cursed Nuer initially was stunned, then his eyes filled with even more terror.

To him, this heretic was like a smiling demon in front of him.

The other hunter seemed tougher, he coldly laughed a few times and said to Nuer, "Traitor! You probably don't know yet! Your settlement has already been judged by the gods because of you, and everyone has become Accursed and divided by the other settlements! You're the biggest sinner of your settlement!"

Sun Hang looked at him speechlessly, thinking that Nuer was already labeled a "traitor," did this guy think a few words would hurt Nuer's heart?

When Nuer mercilessly killed his "old friend," Sun Hang realized that Nuer's personality was different from other survivors—what could be kindly described as realism, but harshly as selfishness.

He didn't have much allegiance to the settlement, nor did he care much about familial ties or friendships. As long as he could lead a better life, these things could be easily discarded.

Sure enough, to Nuer, this guy's words were far less offensive than the curses of the first person. Nuer looked at him expressionlessly and simply said, "Oh."

"If you two want to live or regain your freedom, you might want to listen to my suggestion," Sun Hang continued, "I just need you two to take me to your settlement..."

"Impossible!"

"I'll rather be consumed by the envoy of the underworld than agree to your condition!"

"Tsk, this is hard to deal with... looks like we'll have to resort to punishment," Sun Hang murmured. Although his mind reading ability could directly retrieve the memories of the two hunters, they would end up being useless. And to find their settlement, they needed the hunter marks on the two's bodies.

"Anyone here skilled in interrogation?" Sun Hang looked at the other team members.

"Interrogation? Just beat them up!" Mr. Wang volunteered immediately, "If they don't yield after one beating, just beat them again!"

"Forget it," Sun Hang waved his hand at Mr. Wang, "One punch from you and these two will be dead, how would there be a second round."

"You misunderstand, I can control my strength very well!" Mr. Wang said defiantly, waving his fists.

However, judging by the whooshing sound his fist made and the fleeting dragon flame at his fingertips, his words weren't very convincing.

"Let me do it." At this moment, Zuo Jun stepped forward, "I've read about several very special interrogation methods which I've never had the chance to try; maybe I can test them on these two."

"Okay, just don't kill or cripple them," Sun Hang nodded, "Do you need any tools?"

"I've brought everything," Zuo Jun replied, taking out a delicate pouch — it seemed he was already prepared to use the Desert Sea survivors for interrogation experiments.

[P.S. I'll be spending more time writing new books soon, the old book should update sporadically. I'm planning to have a stockpile of 200,000 to 300,000 words for the new book to ensure a tighter update rhythm and higher quality at the start.]